Method of and apparatus for automatically cleaning, scalding, and peeling fruit



'May 29, 1923.

VENWB@ \f1. W h ,au .m v .1... *l 1L n v D .mw v nvv N e 0 A w Q 1 a a G S N .Tv Q M WW A@ f@ M LR m w 3 G, Q mm Q m 1 r a n@ N w ,Wr Lm Q z Am m Qwkg T, N u@ Mmmm OMM m PWT. a UTmJ ummm .H n, lo F .F As M m1 N w 11 J M m A o -11H11 1% W1... ||I|| A w m1 D N 01. m. l/ WR 11111 m 111 1 1111 1111 11Uw11 1 1u 111 11111 o 2. m n u o o am JHM M o .E .E 'Y @f l G, SGALDING, AND

May 29, 1923.

l. DU PONT ET AL' METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY CLEANIN FEELING FRUIT Filed Jan. 24

, 1922 3 sheets-sheet 2 W my s 5 man m 1|. .E t 2 D e m Q a N e 7 A h 3 MN G, w M 1, m m am L h p m m LR. .WL i M/ N Lm m a n@ .TYTNN EL um w Mmmm M. a mm lllhll -l l.' L! l. .u wwwnmlulumwnlumm mmmmfuunmmnum i I.. F F n a- Am. u d. m u MN. QN. a P UMVI P1 rl .KJ lul/,mv l 3. M m v I IWI wx WNI/ 1.3M: W M mx mw., Q w l n? .NH o n 9 D N 2 m T wmmwnmlunlmvnmwmmlunnlwwlxummwb {lli} I! WW m w||||||w||w||l||l|jw A l .ma .KN

Patented May 29, 1923.

' UNITED STATES PATENT oEFlcE.

ALFRED I. DU PONT, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, AND HIBAM R. HARDING, F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNORS T0 THE HARDING PEELING MACHINE COMPANY, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A. CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOB AUTOMATICALLYCLEANING, SCALDING, AND FEELING FRUIT.

l.Application led January 24,- 1922. Serial No. 531,498.

Y To all whom z't-may comem:

Be it known that we, ALFRED I. DU PONT, residing at Wilmington, county of New Castle, State of Delaware, and HIRAM R. HARDING, residin at Baltimore, countyof Baltimore City, tate of Maryland, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of and Apparatus for Automatically Cleaning, Scalding, and Peeling Fruit, of which the following is a specification.

chines for removing the skin and core of-tomatoes and slicing them preparatory to the canning operation. Thev present improvements are directed particularly to the 111itial washing and scalding of the fruit and feedin it upon a conveyor which carries it throng the several operations of themachine.

Heretofore the vfruit has been placed one by one upon. the conveyor belt by the hands of operators. This method is not only slow and expensive but'necessarily more or less insanitary. Our 'invention eliminates the handling of the fruit by' operatives and not only 'eects a thorough washing while the fruit is being subjected to a scalding operation, but it also automatically places each tomato in a predetermined aligned position uponA the conveyor lbelt with the core uppermost.` The method of operation and structure ofthe apparatus will be understood from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Y.

Figures 1 and l? show a longitudinal sectional vieW of a tomato peeling and coring machine embodying our invention; Figs. 2 and 2fL show a longitudinal view of the automatic washing scalding and feeding apparatus; and Figs. 3 and 3a show a top plan view of the same. v

In Figs. 1 and la, A designates the washing and feeding apparatus which is claimed in the present case; B illustrates thc steam scaldel` forming the subject-matter of our application, Serial No. 531,740 filed Jan. 25, 1922; and C shows the coring and peeling apparatus covered by my prior patent No. 1,423,421, dated July 1s, 1922.

The washing, scalding and automatic feeding apparatus comprises a vat or tank 2, supported upon cross-bars 3, extendin between the uprights or standards 4 o? the 55 frame. The water is heated by a perforated pipe 5 connected by a pipe 6 with a source of steam supply. The continuous wire conveyor8 which extends from one end of the i u machine to the other, passing over end drums Our invention pertalna especially to ma 9, 10 is caused to dip suddenly into the forward end'of the tank and then rise gradually to the dischargeend of the tank, the side chains of the belt being guided in the lateral channel-iron guides 12.

The main portion of the tank is divided by a horizontal diaphragm having a stationary portion l5 and a vertically adjustable portion 16, pivoted at 17 to the stationary portion. The free end of the swinging or vertically adjustable portion is carried by links 18 which are provided with a series of holes to receive pins 18a. The water is caused to circulate in opposite directions above and below the diaphragm, as indicated 75 by arrows, by means of a propeller wheel 20, or in any other suitable manner. The shaft 21 of the propeller passes through a stuffing box 23, and is driven through gears 24 from a power shaft 25.

The specific gravity of a tom-ato is less than that of water and consequently it will float. Moreover a ripe tornato is heavier than a green one and the ripened portion than the green portion. Inasmuch as a tomato which is ripened in the field always has a Green portion about the stem it is evident that a tomato will always float with the stem uppermost. 7e have devised a feeding apparatus'which utilizes this prop- 99 erty.

When the tomatoes are dumped into the vat or tank, they are agitated by the currents produced by the propeller and those at the top rise to the surface with the ,stem uppermost, and are carried by the current in the direction of the arrows. As they approach the discharge end they enter one by one into the channels or spaces between a series of parallel blades 28 pivoted at their forward ends to an oscillatory bar 29 and at their rear ends to a stationary bar 30. The oscillation of the bar 29 is effected by a bellcrank 31, connected by a link 32 with an eccentric 34 carried on the end of a shaft 35 which is provided on its inner end with a gearor cog wheel 36, adapted to engage the sprocket chain upon the adjacent side of the conveyor belt. As the blades 28 are moved to and fro by the oscillating bar 29, the tomatoes are washed and emerge from the discharge end thoroughly cleansed. The ldepth of Water over the conveyor belt diminishes gradually until the belt emerges from the water at the rear end of the blades. The tomatoes, therefore, oat into vthe spaces or channels between the blades and are lifted onto the belt, stems uppermost, as they emerge from between the blades. The blades are so positioned that the middle of each space is in alinement lwlth one of the guide or gauge bars 40 of the feed table. These gau e bars are in alinement with thegrooves in t e pressing rolls 42 of the coring and peeling apparatus C, which force the meat of the tomatoes through the meshes of the belt while the skins and cores remain thereon.

It is desirablethat the tomatoes should be moving at the same speed as the conveyor belt at the instant they seat over the meshes of the belt in order that they may remain in proper position with the stems u permost. To affect this, of course, the diapliragm 16 is raised or lowered by changing the posi-I tion of the pegs 18a in the links 18, thereby varying the cross-section of the water flowing over the discharge end of the diaphragm until the speed of the water currents corresponds with the speed of the belt. Inthis manner, the movement of the tomatoes may be very accurately discharged to correspond with the movement of the belt at the instant they are carried forward thereon.

The operation of this apparatus will be understood from the previous description of the construction of the several structural parts. The tomatoes are discharged into the vat or tank A which is heated to a scalding temperature by the steam supplied through the pipes 5 and 6. The swinging diaphragm 16 having been adjusted to the proper angle, the propeller 20 causes the water to circulate in opposite directions above and below the diaphragm, the adjustment of the latter causing the currents to flow over the free end of the diaphragm with a velocity corresponding to the speed of the conveyor belt. The tomatoes rise to the surface with their stems uppermost by reason of the greater specific gravity of the ripened portions and they are then carried by the currents into the spaces or channels between the pivoted blades 28. As these blades oscillate, the tomatoes are lmoved laterally to and fro so that by the time they emerge from the rear ends of the passages, they have been thoroughly washed. Inasmuch as the tomatoes are at this moment moving at the same rate as the conveyor belt, they are' taken up by the latter without jar-in the desired position with stems uppermost. As previously stated, the pivoted ends of the blades 28 are so positioned that the tomatoes' emerge from the passages therebetween in alignment with the gauge bars 40, so that each tomato is centered over a mesh of the conveyor belt and in alignment with the rotary slicing cutters 44 and the grooves of the pressing coring rolls 42.

We have illustrated a propeller as the means for causing the circulation of the water in the tank but it is evident that a pump o r other means may be employed.

'Likewise various other changes may be made in the several parts of the mechanism shown and described for the purpose of affecting the results accomplished by our invention without in any manner departing therefrom.

We claim z- 1. The method of preparing fruit such as.

tomatoes, for a peeling and coring operation,

which consists in immersing the fruit ina water bath, creating a current in the upper portion thereof to cause a definite movement of the fruit adjacent the surface of the water, separating the moving fruit into parallel channels and conveying it in a continuous succession in space alinement.

2. The method of preparing fruit such as tomatoes, for a peeling and coring operation, which consists in immersing the fruit in a water bath, heating the bath to a scalding temperature, creating a current in the upper ment of the fruit adjacent the surface of the water, separating the moving fruit into parallel channels agitating the individual fruit bodies by an oscillatory motion, and conveying 1t in Aa continuous succession in spaced alinement.

3. Apparatus for automatically preparing tomatoes or other fruit for a peeling and corin operation, comprising a washing tank into which the tomatoes are discharged, a conveyor belt movable obliquely upward through the tank and means for directing the tomatoes in parallel aligned rows upon the belt as it emerges from the water.

4. In an apparatus as set forth in claim 3, means for causing a current in the water adjacent the surface in the direction of the movement of the belt.

Apparatus for automatically preparing tomatoes or other fruit for a peeling andV coringoperation, comprising a Washing tank into which the tomatoes are discharged, a conveyor belt movable obliquely upward through the tank, means for causing a curvportion thereof to cause' a definite moverent in the water adjaeent the surface in the and means for adjusting it to different podirection of .the movement of the belt, sitions tol vary the rate of How of said sur- 10 means for washing the tomatoes by an osclface currents. I v latory movement, and means for directing In testimony whereof we ax our signa- 5 them in parallel ali ed rows upon the belt tures. as it emerges from t e water. f 6. In an apparatus as set forth in claim ALFRED I. DU PONT. 5, a transverse diaphragm within the tank HIRAM R. HARDING. 

